Monroe, Marla - Their Broken Lady (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

Halfway down the stairs, it hit her that as much as she loved her little house, this one was perfect. It was too big for her, but it was perfect if she could have her dream house. So much of it reminded her of the house she’d designed as a teenager when she planned to get married and have a house full of kids. All of that had gone by the wayside now. She doubted she would ever get married. She had too much baggage and poor taste in men.

Chapter Eight

The men were in the living room talking about something when she walked in. They stopped talking and smiled.

“You look great in those clothes,” Bryan said.

“I knew she would.” Tanner gloated over his choices.

“Have the police been here yet?” she asked.

“Just left, baby.” Bryan walked over and drew her deeper into the room. “Why don’t you sit down while Tanner cooks something good to eat? He’s the master in the kitchen.”

“I can believe that after the meal the other night. It was fabulous.” Amber meant it, too.

“Sit with Bryan until its ready, Amber. I’ll call you in about an hour.”

“Do you need help?”

“Don’t even go there,” Bryan said with a laugh. “He doesn’t like anyone in the kitchen when he cooks.

“No, I don’t like
you
in the kitchen when I cook. Amber I wouldn’t mind at all. She’s much prettier to look at than you are.” Tanner chuckled when Bryan made a face at him.

Once Tanner had left the room, Bryan pulled her down to sit on his lap on the couch. He immediately wrapped his arms around her in a loose hold. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she sat stiffly on his lap, looking at the fireplace.

“Relax, baby. Lean back and just chill for a while.” Bryan urged her toward his shoulder with one hand. His other hand rested on her hip.

Amber slowly relaxed against him. It felt good to be in his arms. She felt safe and cared for. She couldn’t fault either him or Tanner with that. They made her feel wanted and cared for. If they just weren’t so bossy, manipulating her so that she followed their plans.
You have to admit that there are other circumstances at play here, Amber. They didn’t attack you, and they didn’t almost run you down with a car. They’re just reacting like you are.

Maybe, but she didn’t think it was a good idea to get too attached to them anyway. She wasn’t going to date them—or any man, for that matter.

Amber felt Bryan’s hands rubbing her hip and up and down her arm. He rested his head on top of hers and sighed. What did that sigh mean? Was he content like she was? Or was he uncomfortable but resigned to holding her? She started to sit back up and get off his lap, but he held her firmly in place.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I figure I’m squashing you. I can sit on the couch.”

“You’re fine right where you are. I like having you on my lap, and you smell wonderful.” Bryan nuzzled her neck and kissed her there.

Amber sure wasn’t going to be able to relax as long as he was doing that. He nibbled at her ear then kissed a line from her earlobe across her jaw. When she turned into his kisses, he claimed her mouth. She opened to him almost instinctively. His tongue twirled with hers, then licked along her mouth and across the roof of her mouth. He thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth as if fucking her, then pulled back to suck on her lower lip. When he let it go, she felt almost bereft.

“Dinner is ready, you guys.” Tanner called from the kitchen.

Bryan smiled and helped her to her feet. She swayed slightly and he grabbed her around the waist to hold her steady until she got her feet under her.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s been an hour,” she said.

“Yep, time flies when you’re having fun,” he told her with a smile and a waggle of his eyebrows.

Amber couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. He laughed with her, and when they entered the kitchen, Tanner looked at them with amusement.

“Let me in on the joke?” he asked.

“Naw, you had to be there,” Bryan said.

Tanner just shook his head and indicated they should sit at the table where he had everything ready. He pulled out a bottle of wine and poured a glass for each of them. Then he sat down and started passing the dishes around the table.

“It’s just baked chicken, rice, and lima beans with cornbread. Nothing fancy tonight.”

“It looks delicious. I haven’t had cornbread in years.” Amber took a slice, then passed it to Bryan.

Once they had finished, Amber jumped up to help with the dishes only to have Bryan and Tanner both shoo her away.

“We have a dishwasher, so all there is to do is load it and turn it on. Go sit in the living room and relax. We’ll be right there.” Tanner gently pushed her in the direction of the other room.

She sighed and returned to the couch. They were entirely too bossy, but they were good to her at the same time. Neither of them had gotten exasperated or angry with her yet. Still, they weren’t
dating
really.
But you let them suck your breasts and lick your pussy, Amber.
She shuddered remembering the exquisite orgasms they had given her. How could anyone who was that talented with their mouths and fingers be bad? Her ex had never been able to please her at all. He’d just fucked her until he came and rolled over to go to sleep.

She couldn’t believe she was thinking about sex after what had nearly happened to her. How sick was that? She frowned and steered her mind toward what she needed to do to protect herself in her house when she went back. She needed new locks put on the windows. That was a given. What worried her was how much it was going to cost. She had a small savings account, but not a lot in it.

“Why the frown? You’re supposed to be relaxing in here,” Tanner scolded.

“I can’t help but think about what I need to do to the house to make it safe. I have to live there, Tanner.”

“I told you to leave that to us. We’ll take care of getting the windows new locks.” Bryan walked into the room and sat on one side of her.

Tanner took a seat on the other side of her. He squeezed her hand while Bryan squeezed her thigh.

“It’s getting late, baby. Do you want to go to bed now?”

“Oh, what time is it? I’m so disoriented.”

“It’s nearly eleven,” Tanner said.

As if just by hearing how late it was, Amber yawned. The men laughed. She frowned at them.

“I guess I better go, or I’ll never get up in the morning.”

“You don’t need to get up anytime in particular. Sleep until you feel like getting up. We’ll either be inside or outside in the stables. You can come out there and meet some of the horses.” Tanner stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get you settled in for the night.”

The three of them walked upstairs and down the hall to the master bedroom. She wasn’t surprised when they both walked in with her. Before she knew what they were going to do, Bryan was pulling off her T-shirt and Tanner had her pants off.

“Really, guys, I can manage from here.” She still didn’t do anything to stop Bryan from removing her bra.

Her arms came up to shield herself from them and Tanner pulled them down.

“Don’t cover yourself, honey. We’ve seen you already. You’re beautiful. Let’s get you in bed and covered up so you don’t catch a chill.”

Amber hurried over to the bed, glad that they let her keep her panties on. She climbed up on the big bed, and Bryan pulled the covers up to her neck and tucked them in.

“Sleep well, baby. If you need us, we’re the second and third door down the hall.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then her nose.

Tanner leaned down next and lightly grazed her mouth with his lips, he smoothed down her hair and they turned off the light and closed the door.

Amber knew a brief moment of panic at being in the dark in a strange bed, but she quickly talked herself out of it. She was safe in Tanner and Bryan’s house. They wouldn’t let anything happen to her. A small part of her wished they had climbed into the bed with her, though. She would have felt safer with them by her sides.

With those naughty thoughts, Amber closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * * *

A blood-curdling scream woke Bryan with a start. He raced out his room to nearly bump into Tanner as he raced for Amber’s room. They burst into the room to find her tossing and turning, fighting the bedcovers. She was in the throes of a nightmare. They both tried to calm her down and wake her up. She nearly landed a blow to Tanner’s nose before they finally woke her up enough that she stopped fighting.

“Oh, God. I’m sorry. I thought…”

“I know, baby, shh. It’s all right now. You’re safe.” Bryan climbed into bed with her and pulled her into his arms. Tanner climbed in on the other side and cuddled against her back.

Bryan felt her suddenly stiffen up. Fuck, they were nude, and she was nearly that way. They were scaring her.

“Amber, it’s all right. Nothing is going to happen. We’re just going to hold you and keep you safe so you can sleep.”

“But you’re hard,” she whispered so low he almost missed it.

“We’re always hard around you, baby. Don’t worry about it. Just relax and go back to sleep.” Bryan ran his hand up and down her arm to sooth her he hoped.

Tanner looked across her at him. He moved her hair aside and kissed her shoulder. Then he whispered good night to her. She slowly closed her eyes. Bryan kissed her forehead and waited for her to fall asleep. He knew the moment she did. Her entire body relaxed into theirs.

“I worried this might happen, but I knew she would balk at having us sleep with her even if we had worn pajama pants.” Tanner nuzzled her hair.

Bryan knew how his brother felt. He wanted to rub himself all over her. His cock was rock hard and pressed against the soft skin of her belly. He had to grit his teeth to keep from pushing against her. If he didn’t get inside of her soon, he was going to go crazy. Surely she was melting toward them by now.

“What are you thinking about, Bryan?” Tanner asked in a soft voice.

“That I can’t wait to get inside her tight cunt. I’m having a hard time resisting the urge to bury myself inside of her. Every day it gets worse.”

“I’m having the same problem. And God. Her ass feels perfect back here. My cock is resting right in the crease. I want to push so badly.”

“Whatever her ex-boyfriend did to her was bad enough, she’s still trying to resist us,” Tanner said.

“I think we’ve already established that he abused her.”

“I think it’s more than that. I’m scared something about us reminds her of him.”

“We’re nothing like that asshole,” Bryan said with a growl.

“Shh, don’t wake her up.”

“Well, something is going on in that lovely head of hers. We need to figure out what it is and figure out how to overcome it.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it right now. We need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, I’m afraid.” Tanner ran his hand through her hair.

“She isn’t going to like it that we’re getting the windows fixed for her.” Bryan agreed with Tanner there. She would be furious.

What had she said? They were taking over everything? Was that part of why she didn’t want to date them? He thought about it, turning it over and over in his mind. Maybe that was the problem. He would talk to Tanner about it in the morning.

Amber began to murmur in her sleep, growing agitated. He ran his hand up and down her arm and whispered that she was safe until she finally grew still. He wondered what she was dreaming about that upset her so much. Was it from her previous life, or was it from the attack that had just happened that day?